Break Out
by iiNocturnalii
Summary: Mika and Yuu have the odd ability to communicate with each other through their thoughts. They're not the only ones who know people like them exist. Caught because of their naivety and now stuck in something akin to a prison and wasting away in cells, the only option to saving themselves and any future they have is to find a way out; to Break Out. AU, MikaYuu.
1. Together

**Warnings:** slash, femslash, extreme feelings of hopefulness and helplessness, symptoms of depression, a loooootttt of page breaks.

 **Things to look forward to:** A bit of mystery, Kid!Yuu and Mika, kisses, a light read, happy ending, suspense, background stories.

 **Notes:** This story is basically a major twist on the whole "twins can telepathically communicate to each other," cliché. Obviously Yuu and Mika aren't twins in this fic, no one is twins in this fic. It originally was supposed to go in a whole other direction entirely, but I got this bunch of words instead. If you have a thing for happy endings, stay tuned. It's coming I promise.

* * *

 _I_

 **Break Out**

 _Chapter_ One: Together

 _{3-8}_

* * *

 _[Age: Three]_

They don't understand at first that they weren't normal. In fact, they weren't self-aware at all. Because if you know you can write with your right hand you assume everyone else can too, right? Even left handed people. But that's not always true is it? Because you assume that all people can talk if they have mouths. Until you meet someone who can't.

Mika and Yuu assumed everyone else can do the things they do. Nobody pointed it out either and when they did notice something was a little… off, they drew their conclusions from the wrong place.

"Best friends from birth," Yuu's mother says to the neighbor, "they're just really close, that's all."

"They just get each other," Mika's mother explains to the concerned daycare worker, "they know how to talk and if you want them too all you have to do is ask," She adds, "they just don't talk when they're together."

But that wasn't really true, either. Yuu and Mika talk to each other, they talk to each other a lot. Other people just can't hear them. Because, normally, who other than you can hear your thoughts? For Yuu normally Mika can and likewise, Yuu can hear every thought that goes through Mika's head.

They didn't know this wasn't normal. Especially when superhero cartoons were so popular and aired on Saturday mornings, you can say they weren't exactly discouraged from doing it either. Quite the opposite actually.

 _"Yuu!"_ Mika thought, sitting on the soft carpet. A small plastic bowl of cheerios rested on the coffee table, cheerios splattered around the green object. "We're just like superheroes!"

 _"What'd are you saying, Mika? I'm trying to eat my 'herrios!"_ Yuu thinks back, eyebrows furrowed and stubby fingers taking handfuls of cheerios, shoving the cereal in his chubby cheeks. Eyes intensely focused on the T.V screen. Where multi-coloured, spandex wearing animations were jumping around and declaring catchphrases every few minutes.

 _"We're superheroes, Yuu!"_ Mika thinks again.

 _"Really?"_ Yuu thinks and finishes chewing.

 _"Really!"_ Mika grins. "We can talk without moving our mouths!"

 _"Yay!"_ Yuu shouts, and jumps up, spilling his cheerios all over the carpet.

 _"Oh no."_ Mika thinks, his mommy always gets mad whenever he spills his food. Spills and messes were very bad things.

 _"Mom!"_ Yuu yells, _"I spilled my 'heerios!"_

They waited for a second or two but no footsteps were heard, just the noises of the T.V.

 _"Mom!"_ Yuu roars, this time, his little arms stiff at his sides, his hands clenched into frustrated fists. _"I spilled my 'herrios!"_

They wait again, and the T.V makes a particular exposition sound, and it's enough to draw back Mika's and Yuu's attention.

The show is about to end when Yuu's mother finally walks back into the room.

"Yuu!" She scowls and then scolds, "I told you not to make a mess! I just spent the morning cleaning the house."

"I yelled for you!" Yuu whines and pouts, there's a flush rosy hue to his chubby cheeks. "You didn't come." Mika whimpers a bit and it enough for Yuu to hold his hand. Mika hated getting in trouble.

Huffing, his mother starts picking up the cheerios, she gets all of them and dumps them back into the plastic bowl they came from. She sweeps Mika's spilled cheerios into the palm of her hand and back into his bowl, taking both back to the kitchen. There's a clanking noise in the kitchen and the familiar sound of the dishwasher opening, before Yuu's mother makes her way back into the living room to finish her scolding.

"Next time don't yell at me Yuu! Get up and find me." His mother says with a stern look and her hands on her hips standing in front of the T.V. "Your show's over?" She asks, eyeing the T.V with a drip in her lip.

"Yeah," Yuu says dryly, rolling his eyes a bit.

"Good." Is the response he gets. Yuu's mother pushes the square off button under the ridge of the T.V. "It's a nice day, why don't you boys go enjoy it?" She shoos Mika and Yuu to the backyard. "I'll be watching from the kitchen window!"

Mika and Yuu comply with the woman's wishes and find themselves in Yuu's backyard. The wind brushes against Yuu's skin like a ripple across water and summer air fills his nostrils.

The backyard is vast but empty of anything but a patio and a sturdy shed. Mika rushes to the wooden shed, the glass presses under his shoe like plush green carpet, soft.

 _"Wait!"_ Yuu calls, a concerned look upon his young face and rushes after. He watches Mika dig out the spare key out from under the placemat in front of the shed door, a very old worn one with the almost incomprehensible wording. A simple 'Welcome' printed out in cursive.

 _"Whatcha doing Mika?"_ Yuu asks first and then scowls, " _You know we're not 'upposed to go there."_

Yuu looks the shed with awe and a tad bit of nerves. The shed itself was quite the impressive structure, to the three-year-old it looked big enough to be a house. When in reality the wooden shed was no larger than an average guest bathroom.

 _"But the soccer balls are in there, Yuu!"_ Mika replies, flicking his eyes back to his friend and small childish finger towards the locked door of the shed. As Mika fiddles with the metal lock, it's big and heavy in his puny hand. Yuu's mom shouts out from the window. "What do you boys thinks you're doing?"

Mika drops the lock and swings around in a start and hid the key behind his back.

 _"Getting a soccer ball, ma!"_ Yuu yells back, but the only reply he gets is his mother stomping out the door and charging towards them until she's standing in front of them.

"What do you boys think you're doing?" She asks again, this time in a passive aggressive tone.

Mika and Yuu exchange a look. Yuu makes eye contact with his mother and Mika turned his attention to his feet in embarrassment – it had been his idea and Yuu was getting in trouble because of him. " _Getting a soccer ball_ ," Yuu answers sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders innocently.

"Well?" She just says, his lips press together in a way that suggests she's not pleased. "Don't make me count to three."

Mika hears him, so he doesn't understand why Yuu's mother doesn't.

 _"Getting a soccer ball."_ Yuu thinks louder this time, maybe she just didn't hear him?

"One." She starts, tapping her foot on the grass. Mika and Yuu stare at her confused. "Two." And it takes Yuu's mother until almost three to understand what's going on. "Yuu," She says, sounding a bit exasperated.

"What did I say about using your words, Yuu? I'm not a mind reader." She says shaking her head.

"But Mika –"

 _"Shh!"_ Mika shouts at him via the mind. Yuu frowns but changes what he was going to say anyways. " – I mean, we just wanted a soccer ball."

Yuu's mom huffs out a chuckle and offers a little smile. "Sorry boys, I forgot they were in here."

"Stay back," She warns and Yuu knows why. The shed was a dangerous place they weren't supposed to go in. Yuu's mother holds out his hand, palm up and open, she makes eye contact with Mika. "Well?" She says firmly, "Are you going to give me the key?"

Mika blushes and drops the key into her palm. They cling a bit on the way down.

Yuu's Mother finishes Mika's work with a turn of the key and opens the shed doors. She goes in and Yuu can't see her for a moment until she's coming out with a deck box in her hands. She heaves it out the doors and settles it beside the shed door.

"There you go!" She smiles and follows up with, "That was a bit heavier than I thought, but now you guys can just open this instead of having to go in the shed to get it."

 _"Woah,"_ Mika thinks, _"Your mom's awesome!"_

 _"Yeah!"_ Yuu thinks and grins.

"Go play!" She says as she makes her way back inside after relocking the shed and the key safely tucked in her jean pocket. "If I have to talk you to again, you guys are having timeouts!" Almost as an afterthought, she also adds. "No going in the shed!"

 _"… Maybe not so awesome."_ Mika thinks and Yuu agrees. Time outs suck. Royally.

They play with the worn out soccer ball until the sun is high in the sky and they can't feel their feet.

 _"Yuu,"_ Mika complains, his eyelids dropping _. "'m sleepy."_ He crumbles to the ground, the black patterned ball beside him.

 _"Me too!"_ Yuu says and lies down beside Mika. The boys lay there, gathering their breath again. They look at each other and smile. It's silent for a moment. That moment doesn't last long, however, because even as verbal communication stops, thinking doesn't.

 _"Dog."_ Mika thinks.

 _"More birdish,"_ Yuu replies.

Yuu points to the next cloud.

 _"Bird."_

 _"Dragon."_ Mika counters and spots the next wisps of cloud coming.

 _"Ship,"_ Mika says.

 _"Bird."_ Yuu insists and the next fluffy cloud floats over.

It's not until that night, when Mika slips into Yuu's bed from the blown up air mattress on the floor, that they talk about their day.

(They always sleep together at sleepovers, even if there's an extra bed, especially when there's an extra bed. Their parents thought they'd be thrilled knowing that they're old enough to sleep in different beds when they've been sharing a bed ever since they can remember.

They weren't.

And it didn't matter what their parents said, they always woke up in the same bed when they were supposed to sleep in different ones. Mika and Yuu both liked being closer, and they didn't know what was wrong with that. Especially when Yuu hears his father's fears and his mother hushed voice, "It's just a phase They'll grow out of it." But – that comes later.)

Right now, they're as close as they can get, with their tiny legs tangled and faces side by side, hands touching, pressed together like a positive and negative magnet.

" _Why don't you want to tell ma?"_ Yuu asks, staring at a piece of Mika's bangs that sticking up at a funky angle and giggles, knowing it's going to be worse in the morning.

 _"We're superheroes, right?"_ Mika clarifies, watching Yuu nod. _"Then we gotta kept it a secret!"_

 _"Why?"_ Yuu asks.

 _"'Cause!"_ Mika explains, _"I don't want the bad guys to find out who you is! Then they gonna hurt you!"_

Yuu nods and bites his lip in worry. _"They would hurt you too!"_ Yuu then looks at Mika with a determined look. _"We have to keep it secret! You can't get hurt Mika."_

 _"Yeah, just our secret, no one else allowed."_ Mika agrees, swearing to secrecy.

Yuu pauses for a beat before thinking a comprehendible sentence up and Mika knows this is going to be serious. He struggles to put all the words together but when he does, they make Mika smile.

 _"Y'know I would never let people hurt you?"_ Yuu asks, a whisper, because this felt special.

 _"Yeah! I wouldn't let anyone hurt you either Yuu!"_ Mika takes a hold of Yuu's one hand.

 _"And if you were taken by the bad guys, I'd save you!"_ Yuu blurts out, a flush covers his cheeks.

Mika blushes, stuttering out. _"I-I'd save you too!"_

 _"We'd save each other!"_ Yuu cheers.

 _"Together."_ Mika decides.

 _"Together."_ Yuu echoes it.

They fall asleep together and woke up like that. Neither knew at the time, but that right there, that was their start of forever.

 _[Age: Four]_

His new sneakers slap against the hardwood floor as he patters to the front door. Heavy footfalls chase Yuu's.

"Wait!" His mother orders, catching up to the wild child. She slips her hands under his armpits, heaving him up to rest on her hip.

She makes an 'oof' sound. "You're getting to be a big boy, you know that?" She teases the boy, tapping her index finger on his nose. "Soon, I'm not going to be able to carry you like this anymore."

Yuu pouts, his eyebrows furrow adorably. "No more piggy rides?"

His mother laughs. "Maybe, you'll get a few more of those if you're a good boy."

"'Kay, mommy I'll be a good boy now. Let's go see Mika." Yuu demands, his eyes brighten.

Yuu hadn't been very excited for school. There were other kids there, Yuu already knew he wouldn't like them. Plus, the teacher looked like a wrinkled shirt, he made sure to tell his mommy this, in the hope she realises how bad it would be to trust his care to a person who resembled an old item of clothing. All he got was a scolding. But then mom told him Mika was going there too and suddenly school didn't seem that bad anymore.

His mother glanced at the clock, her eyes widen. "Okay, time for pictures." She flicks out her phone, making sure to turn off the flash.

"Say cheese!" His mother grins at him and he grins back. There's a snapping sound and his mother makes a relieved noise. "Come on, now. Time to go to the bus stop!" She ushers him to the front door.

As soon as the door was open, Yuu bolts. "Yuu, wait!" His mother yells but Yuu wasn't listening, sprinting down the cracked sidewalk, his bag bumping against his bottom.

 _"Mika!"_ Yuu calls, a bright smile on his face. _"Where are yooouuu?"_

 _"At the bus stop, silly_!" Mika giggles. As Yuu eyes the end of the street, a red octagon shaped stop sign stood on an angled metal pole and two people stand there. Lo and behold, the almighty bus stop.

Swatted up in a warm black windbreaker, the chilly morning air didn't faze Yuu. The fall weather couldn't even touch his skin, his cheeks were rosy though and his nose red.

 _"Oh, I see you!"_ Yuu teases. _"Can you see me?"_

He picks up his pace to a run. The small figure waiting at the end of the street whips his head back, his blonde hair follows.

"Yuu!" Mika shouts and Yuu jumps into Mika's open arms. They embrace each other in a hug, one that lasts for only a second.

"Mika, guess what today is?" Yuu asks his hands on his hips in a mock imitation of his mother.

"What is it?" Mika questions, a hand at his chin with his head angled to the side - Mika plays along.

"First day of school!" Yuu yells excitedly, jumping around in a circle.

Mika stiffens up, though, not looking Yuu in the eyes. "Yeah..."

"Mika, something wrong?" Yuu grabs Mika's hand and stares at him intensely.

"No." Mika answers and shifts his eyes to the side.

Yuu doesn't point out the lie. Squeezing Mika's hand, he looks him in the eye. Yuu speaks, concern interlaced deeply in his tone, "I'm gonna be there all the way through you know that, right?"

Mika's eyes widen and a thin blush on his cheeks, "Yeah." Mika confirms. He stands up a little bit straighter, holding his head a little bit higher, fingers still intertwined.

Mika opens his mouth to speak, eyes sparkling. "I'm going to – "

"Yuu!" Yuu's mother comes barreling down the sidewalk, Mika's mother in tow. "I told you to wait!"

She slows as she gets closer until coming to a dead stop in front of the boys. "You're so impatient Yuu." His mother scolds and Yuu rolls his eyes.

Mika's mother smiles, "Make sure your hat stays over your ears." She pushes down Mika's white beany so that it's coving his ears.

"Yes, mother." Mika chips.

"See Yuu," Yuu's mother says pointing at Mika, "That's how a good boy behaves."

Yuu ignores the jib and holds Mika's hand tighter. Shifting closer to his best friend, Yuu tugs a piece of curly hair.

Mika smiles a hundred-watt smile, and shifts closer to Yuu.

 _"I'm going to save you, Yuu, if you get hurt don't worry. I'll be there."_ Mika thinks. The wind breezes by and the end of his coat sways with it.

There's the rumbling of an engine and the long, wide bus that comes with it. As it gets closer, the boy inch towards each other.

When the bus stops in front of them, it's like a lion stopping in front of its prey. The door opens – the lion's jaws snap open – there's dirt on the steps – blood of others – the bus driver's eyes are a dull grey, which looks apathy to the situation – haughty eyes piercing into Yuu's.

Mika's mother kisses his forehead and gives him a hard hug.

Yuu's mother pecks his cheek and ruffles his hair.

"Have a great first day!" Mika's mother shouts to them as they board the bus – being swallowed by the monster.

They hold hands for the whole time, latching on to each other. Yuu spots an open seat and together they sit on the third seat on the left, feeling the lumpy cushion under their bums and the warmth of their hands.

School wasn't really that exciting, Yuu came to find out, he'd been over the butterflies in his stomach since the teacher started talking. Everything was boring after that, there wasn't a T.V here and the toys sucked. Who wanted to play with Barbies? Or house?

Apparently all the other kids, even Mika! Yuu didn't. Yuu wanted to go home and play video games.

If playtime was boring then math and language time sucked.

 _"C'mon, Yuu!"_ Mika tugged Yuu's hand, _"Let's play."_

 _"Play what?"_ Yuu huffs out, crossing his arms.

 _"Family!"_ Mika shouts out excitedly. _"We'll be husbands."_

 _"That sounds girly Mika."_ Yuu lashes out.

 _"Oh."_ Mika's shoulders drop, and his eyes water.

 _"Are you crying?"_ Yuu asks in disbelief.

Mika shakes his head as a watery, salty tear runs down his face.

 _"It's j-just,"_ Mika stutters out, _"Toshi said you can't be married to another husband and then I said you totally could and that I would prove it by getting one."_

Yuu blinks, reaching out a hand he cups Mika's face and kisses him on the cheek. _"There. I'm your husband now."_

Mika laughs, smiling. _"How does that make us married?"_

 _"Mom says only to kiss the person you love and are going to marry, so…"_ Yuu answers, his cheeks flushed.

Mika laughs even more and sings an arm around Yuu's shoulder lending against him. He turns and pecks Yuu on the cheek.

 _"There!"_ Mika announces like he's talking to the world. _"Now I'm your husband."_

Yuu laughs this time **,** _"'kay."_

 _"Wanna go watch clouds?"_ Mika asks, walking shoulder to shoulder with Yuu.

 _"Yeah! Race You!"_ Yuu calls, sprinting to the school yard.

 _"No fair!"_ Mika yells back, running after Yuu.

. . .

 _"Mouse."_

 _"Bird."_

 _"Princess."_

 _"Bird."_

 _"Bear."_

 _"Bird."_

 _"Car."_

 _"Bird."_

Mika looks over at Yuu, his eyebrows furrowed. "Not everything's a bird, Yuu!"

. . .

The bell rings and the teacher calls, "Lunch time!"

The children, like a horde of cattle, came running. It so loud that the teachers have to remind everyone to use their inside voice.

Yuu and Mika have their hands joined, with lunch boxes in the other, they look around for a table but all seemed occupied. While Mika and Yuu had spent time together everyone else had made friends. Mika spots a table at the back, all seats emptied but one.

Mika drags Yuu other there. This table was circular with a grey top and four seats. Three if you count the boy sitting in one.

"Hello," Mika says, greeting the boy. "Can we sit here?"

The boy looks up and Mika's eyes meet with adorable green ones. "Yeah." The boy smiles.

Yuu and Mika take a seat.

"I like your headband." Yuu compliments, unzipping his lunchbox.

They hear a sniffing noise and that's all the warning they get before the boy starts balling.

Mika whacks Yuu upside the head.

"Ow, ow, ow, Mika was that for?" Yuu glares, narrowing his eyes.

"You made him cry!" Mika explains and points at the boy's tears.

"Did not!" Yuu protest, shaking his head.

"Did too!" Mika argues, "Say sorry!"

"Will not!" Yuu says in reply, and Mika pinches his cheek, "Say you're sorry!"

"No!" Yuu whales, but it becomes muffled because of his lack of working cheek muscles.

"Yes!" Mika insists, pinching his other cheek.

"Ow! No." Yuu says he reaches up and yanks on Mika's hair.

"That hurts!" Mika cries, in an irritated voice.

"Well, so do my cheeks!" Yuu retorts.

"And whose fault is that?" Mika asks.

"Yours!" Yuu shouts.

"You know what – " Mika starts but stops when he interrupted by a giggle.

The boy laughs, now instead of crying. "I'm sorry." The boy says. "I guess the fight is my fault."

"No." Mika denies, still holding Yuu's cheeks. "Yuu hurt your feelings so he has to say sorry."

Yuu pulls on Mika's hair in reply. "Ow."

"No," The boy says, "I was crying 'cause I'm happy."

"Crying because you're happy?" Yuu questioned.

"Yeah." The boy sniffled, still red-faced, "The other people wouldn't play with me because my headband's pink."

"Well, I don't care about what the other people think." Yuu declares, "Your headband's cool."

"Yeah!" Mika agrees.

"I'm Mika, by the way. And this is Yuu!" Mika says pointing to his friend beside him.

"I'm Yoichi!" Opening his lunch box, Yoichi pulls out three cookies in a bag.

Mika and Yuu make little-awed faces.

"Would you like one?" Yoichi asks sweetly.

And that's how Mika and Yuu made their first friend.

. . .

"Yuu?" Mika thinks that night as he stares down at his half eaten slice of pepperoni pizza. A few plain chips lay beside the piece. He's wrapped in his mother arms. He feels full and she smells like home.

A football player scores a touchdown and his father goes wild. Yelling at the broadcasting game on the large flat screen T.V kitty-cornered in their living room. Mika isn't paying attention to such things.

"What do you think of Yoichi?"

In the next house over, Yuu's tongue was sticking out the side of his mouth as he tried his hardest to keep the purple crayon in the lines of the superhero drawn. A crumpled paper with connects the dots pattern was pushed off to the side. Who does homework?

"He shared his cookies," Yuu thinks back, pausing from his colouring, "So he can't be that bad."

. . .

After that, it was like Mika and Yuu had another piece of their jigsaw puzzle. It wasn't just Mika and Yuu anymore, it was Mika, Yuu and Yoichi. 'We' no longer meant Yuu and Mika, 'we' meant Yuu, Mika and Yoichi. None of them minded either.

Skipping down the clean sidewalk of old Redstone road, Yuu's warm hand in Mika's right hand and Yoichi's soft one in Mika's left. The bone chilling air of October sweeps by like smooth water, gentle yet cold.

Mika shivers and tightens his hold on his friends' hands. They squeeze back. Yoichi turns his head and Mika catches his eyes, they smile at each other.

"C'mon guys!" Yuu calls out, picking up his pace. "It's freezing out here!" Running to the closest house, which happens to be Yuu's.

"Wait, Yuu!" Yoichi yells, but follows anyway.

"People are always telling me to wait." Yuu grumbles and rolls his eyes, "I don't want to wait anymore!" Dashing down the street, Yoichi on his heels and Mika following with a toothless smile on his face.

They had tried on multiple occasions to talk to Yoichi without using their mouths, but nothing worked. It was like a barrier was between Yoichi and the two others' thoughts, one that didn't exist between Yuu and Mika. So after their tenth try, they let it go, just because Yoichi wasn't exactly like them, didn't mean they cherish him any less.

[Age: Eight]

Grade two wasn't a special year itself, the first day of school was an important date in life and grade one was where the 'real' work began. Or at least, that's what his parents said. However, for Yuu, it was like all the above blurred together. All that really mattered to Yuu was Yoichi and Mika.

That's how it was supposed to be.

With his door closed, Yuu lay curled in a ball, muttering to himself, his bed sheets on top of him like a shield.

His parents whisper just outside of his door, "He's your son, too." His mother cuffed her hand around her mouth and pokes his father in the shoulder. "Go talk to him."

With a shake of her head his mother left. His father huffs "That woman…" He says under his breath.

Yuu's father knocks on the door.

"Go away!" Yuu muffled yelling reaches his father's ears. His father sighs, gentle opening the door and shutting it after he was in the yellow painted room.

He sits on the end of Yuu's bed. The baseball patterned comforter soft under his touch.

"You know, Yuu." His father starts. "When I was your age –"

Yuu throws back the covers violently, his hair tussled and his eyes sparkle with tears.

"No!" Yuu roars, sliding off the bed, getting to his feet. "You don't know! 'Cause I haven't even told you yet! You didn't even ask!" Yuu yells, his face red from screaming. "And even if you did ask I wouldn't tell you! You're just them anyway!"

Pulling open the door, Yuu charges out of his room and flies down the stairs and barrels out of the house. His father chasing after him.

"Yuichiro!" His father calls, racing after the boy. His footsteps halt at the front door. Afternoon Sunlight glints off the glossy red painted door, it's thrown wide open and Yuu's nowhere in sight.

There's a gust of wind and Yuu's fathers sighs, rubbing the back of his hand against his forehead. Where did he go wrong?

There's a thumping of footsteps and Yuu's mother enters the front room. "What happened?" Her face full of concern, her voice firm. A dish and a green striped rag still held in her strong hands, dripping water on the floor every couple seconds.

"Gone." Yuu's father replies, huffing. He scratches the back of his head and turns away from the door.

"What?" She screeches, she rushes to the door and peeks her head out, there's no sign of her little boy.

"Why didn't you stop him?" She yells at him, glaring. "He's your little boy too!"

Yuu's father regards her with a blank look and walks away. His back turned.

"Wait!" She demands gripping onto his arms. "Where are you going?" The dish and rag held tightly in one hand, her other hand bleeds white hanging onto his shirt sleeve.

He shrugs her off and keeps walking. His steps echo in the empty house, like the sound of bullets, each step kills.

Her eyes burn and water and she can feel the tears start but she won't let them fall. She's slumped, staring at the ground, he keeps walking, keeps killing. And just like a flicker of light, suddenly her eyes burn with something more intense. She raises her head as he reaches for the brass doorknob, raises her shoulders like the pillars of a grand kingdom. Crossing her arms, she flicks up an eyebrow.

"Oh." She sneers, "That's what this is about." She's furious, she tilts her head.

He pauses but doesn't reply.

"It's been eight years." Her eyes say, venom in her voice. "If you really that upset about it, leave. Yuu and I don't need you."

Now, it's her turn to walk away, the dish almost breaks under the stress of her hold.

"You know I can't do that," He replies.

She spins around, staring him straight in the eye. "Why?" Her voice is clipped, and she's so irritated she can't stand still, she rocks back and forth on her heel.

"Because I love you," He answers sincerely.

"And Yuu?" She asks, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth when he doesn't reply. "So that's how it is." She laughs.

"Good thing I love him then." She rockets into the kitchen and slams the dish into the sink, throws the rag on the table and grasps the phone.

"What are you doing?" He asks, his voice echoes, like everything he does.

"Calling next door, because Yuu's not allowed to leave this household yet." She pokes the square buttons like they're her worse enemy. "However, you're welcome to." She smiles at him.

. . .

The grass crunches under his feet and the sun assault the back of Yuu's neck. The cold nips Yuu's nose and cheeks until they glow a rosy red, it tears at his lungs with every deep breath he takes.

They're wrong – they're all wrong! Yuu wasn't a freak, he wasn't.

His heart pounds against his rib cage, like a starving lion, on the other side of the rusted bars – a wounded gazelle, ready for the taking.

He squeezes his fists and runs faster. The houses, the road, the cars parked in the long, paved driveways, the clouds rested in the silver sky, all of it blurred. None of it mattered.

Making a sharp turn, Yuu leaves his street and barrels into the forest that surrounds. The trees tower, like skyscrapers, the branches appear to touch the sky. There's a distinctive lack of bugs buzzing and the silence is eerie.

There's a root Yuu doesn't see. The toe of his shoes scrapes the top of the bulging thing. It sends him tumbling. He yelps, and instinctively shoots his hands in front of him. Stiff as stones, his hands ram into the dirt covered ground. His knees hit the ground hard and Yuu winces.

Gingerly, Yuu gets up. Picking his hands off the ground, sitting on his grass stained knees, Yuu brushes off the dirt caked onto his hands. Once on his feet, Yuu sweeps off the loose dirt on his pants, there's nothing he can do for the green prints, or that spot of blood soaking through just above his kneecap.

From there on out, Yuu walks and his left knee stings at every step – but Yuu's never been a cry baby, so he deals. He doesn't want to go back home anyway.

It's getting dark, so Yuu picks up his pace and walks faster further into the forest– he'll get to be warm when he gets to his destination.

. . .

There's been a bad feeling rolling around in Mika's stomach ever since he got home. Mika was sad, but he didn't know what he was sad about – there was nothing to be sad about, (well, there was the thing at school today but everyone at school is an idiot other than Yoichi and Yuu) not when his parents were actually here when he came home. But he couldn't help but mope.

Mika felt bad, he should be grateful that his parents were home early, they always had weekends off, but sometimes they didn't come home from work until Mika was already in bed. His parents worked hard, Mika knew that, so he always made sure to do his best in school like they asked and be pleasant when they were around, but today he just couldn't be.

"Mika," His father addressed, his lips dripped in a frown, a hand, one filled with rough patches of skin and calluses holds the T.V remote. "Are you okay?"

The phone rings and the bad feeling in his stomach amplifies.

"Hold on!" His mother yells at the ringing object. "I'll be there soon." Setting the plate in her hand down on the wooden table, she grips the phone and answers. Swiftly, she brings the black object up to her right ear.

"Hello." His mother greets, a hand on her hip and a small smile on her face.

Mika leaps down from the couch and calls out behind him, "Going to the park!" He the races out of the living room to the front door. He shoots out of his house and down the street – the opposite way from the little park on old Redstone road.

Mika and Yuu sit on the wooden floor of the tree house. Bundled up in five thick blankets, cuddling each other. Yuu's head buried in Mika's shoulder. The space is just big enough (and stable enough) for the crate on the opposite wall and for the two of them to be comfortable.

The tree house is up high in the middle of the forest, it's safe and warm– with actual glass windows and a solid door with a lock, and shutters with hinges on the inside, the roof had actually shingles too. Most importantly, it was theirs. A gift from the neighbour's teenage daughter, Mito.

Yuu can remember the day, two months ago, when Mito was packing up and her parents were moving out. Two big trucks were present it the house four doors from his own, three doors down from Mika's house.

"Where are you going?" Yuu had asked, his hands fiddling with the material of his jeans. He doesn't meet Mito's eyes.

"To school." Mito casually replies, her hands stuffed in her floral skirt pockets, her hair dyed a dark blue and a little noise piercing twinkling in the morning light.

"A new school?" Yuu piped up, leaning on the white door fame, its wood chipped in the spot just beside his arm.

"Yeah, very big and very different and very, very far away." She focuses on the window and gets this faraway look in her eyes. The look is gone as fast as it came, and Mito focuses back on him. She smirks at him, slyly like a fox.

"You're about ten right?" She asks, a mischievous air surrounds her. Her jade eyes don't look as innocent as they once did.

"I'm eight." Yuu huffs and rolls his eyes.

She's lets out a laugh, it's high like wind chimes, full of a sense of young, fun, and risk taking. "Close enough."

Mito opens her closest door and crouches, curiously Yuu sits beside her. There's a tiny bronze lock meant for an even smaller bronze key, at the bottom her closest. Reaching up, she unclips the necklace handing from her neck, she drops it into her left hand, its golden chain pools in her palm. Reaching into the tangled strings, she pulls out the key attached. It's a smaller bronze key for the tiny bronze lock.

"This," Mito says like she's declaring it to the world, not to just Yuu. "Is the last time I'm ever going to use this key."

She inserts the key into the lock and turns it. There's a click, barely audible but Mito hears. She pulls on the key and a square of the closest wall comes with it. It opens like a hatch and inside is not what Yuu expected at all.

It's just a hole in the wall, just smaller than a rectangle sand castle bucket. Mito reaches her hand into the hole, patting her hand around.

"Where is it...?" She mumbles to herself.

"Aha!" She smiles, "Found it!" Mito shows Yuu her close fist and slowly opens it. Inside, in the center of her palm was another key, what it was for, Yuu didn't know.

Closing the hatch hastily, Mito yanks the bronze key out and shoves both keys into her pocket.

"C'mon Yuu!" She takes him and they run out of the closet, closing the doors she turns to the window.

"Let's go!"

Even if her parents were moving out, they still owned the property the tree house was on and the house. Mito had said.

Thinking of Mito made Yuu remember something. Something important.

He removes himself from the blankets and Mika's hold. He walks over to the crate, where they keep the old blankets Mito left them and whatever else they wanted in there, like the pairs of mittens and hats they had put there just in case. Reaching his arm in, he passing all those things until his hand touches the very bottom of the crate. He moves his hand around.

 _"Yuu,"_ Mika thinks, he sounds tried, even in his mind. _"What are doing?"_

 _"Looking for something important,"_ Yuu replies generally.

 _"I can see that, what are you looking for?"_ Mika asks again, looking dazed. Yuu is a rather warm human being, Mika might catch a cold without him.

 _"You'll see."_ Yuu smiles back at him and keeps looking.

His index finger touches the tip of the paper and Yuu grins, "Found it." He says aloud.

Gripping on to the paper, Yuu lifts it out of the crate and walks back over to Mika. He struggles to get under the covers but once he does, he makes sure he's as close to Mika as possible.

He hands the envelope to Mika.

 _"What is this?"_ He inquires, fingering the pale paper. Mika, glances at the packet in his hand and then at Yuu.

 _"It's a deed, like for a house."_ Yuu replies, smiling at Mika. _"It's for when we get older."_ He holds Mika's hand, it's warm. All of him feels warm, his cheeks that flush and his heart that thumbs and especially the hand connecting him to Mika.

 _"So we can be together, without anyone telling us differently."_ Yuu says passionately, squeezing Mika hand.

There was an odd silence for a moment.

"They weren't right, right Mika?" Yuu asks out loud, trying to give more power to his words. He cuddles into Mika's side.

"Who isn't right?" Mika asks out loud just like Yuu did like he doesn't know what Yuu was taking about. Maybe he didn't.

"The people at school." Yuu grumbles, the words come out muffled, because he hides his mouth.

"Of course, they aren't." Mika gently kisses the crown of Yuu's head. "They don't know anything."

"But!" Yuu protests, "Toshi was one of them and he's like, super smart and always gets perfect on math tests!"

Mika looks at Yuu and hugs him closer. "I meant, you moron, they don't know anything about us."


	2. Trapped

**Notes:** Thank you guys so much for the reviews, favourites and follows! Seriously, you guys are awesome.

* * *

 _II_

 **Break Out**

 _Chapter Two: Trapped_

 _{10-11.5}_

* * *

They snuggle closer, neither wanting to go home yet and face the scolding that was bound to come. So they fell asleep just like that. Together under thick blankets and the roof of their tree house. Listening to the howling of the wind and each other heartbeats, they woke up like that too.

 _[Age: Ten]_

"Hey Yuu," Yoichi presses the palm of his hands on the front of Yuu's desk. "Guess what week it is?" His green eyes glow and a smirk plays at his lips.

Yuu's hands pause their fiddling with his first phone, a black flip one he'd gotten as a late Christmas present. He's eyes flick up and meet Yoichi's. In an instant, Yuu's wearing a smile that rivals the other. Yuu slams his hands down the other side of his desk, standing, he leans so Yoichi and him and staring eye to eye.

"The." Yuu pauses for a beat at each word, his smile grows as he says each one. "Last. Freakin'. Week. Of. School."

Yoichi makes an adorable little noise at the back of his throat. "I can't wait!" Yoichi esters wildly with his hands. "Swimming Yuu! We get to go swimming!"

Yuu laughs at Yoichi's dazed expression. "Yeah, the beach's cool." Shrugging his shoulder, Yuu leans back in his chair.

Yoichi's eyebrow raises, "No pun intended?"

Yuu tilts his head, reflecting on what he just said. Yoichi chuckles at Yuu's 'thinking face.' A thin blush dusted his cheeks. Yuu's hands clench into fists and he glares at Yoichi. "Oi! Shut it –"

"Yuichiro," The teacher scolds and the talking class quiets immediately. She has her dry hands seated on hips, her plucked eyebrows raised above circular glasses and her dry lips puckered. "We don't use that type of language in here."

Yuu shoots a look in Yoichi direction, however like the good student he is, Yoichi's facing front, sitting straight up.

 _"Bastard_." Yuu thinks, and he can hear Mika chuckle. "You too." Yuu scowls and flicks his gaze to his right, where five desks away, Mika sits.

After five seconds of an awkward staring contest, the teacher stops her weird eye contact. Her heels click as she paces at the front of the room. "Today, we have very special guests here. Please be on your best behaviour and show some respect, please. These people protect us and fight for us." She says in the tone Yuu hates and makes him want to rip out his ears.

Without further ado, the teacher opens the door and in walks one person. The first thing Yuu notices is that this dude's hair is white and that's such a ridiculous hair colour Yuu doesn't know what to think about it. His eyes are piercing as they scale the room, his shoulders look strong and a tiny smirk is present at his thin lips.

He walks to the front and stands in the very middle, he turns on his heel to face the students, a packet of papers in his hand and his smirk expands into a smile.

"Hello," The soldier says in a cheery tone, smiling a closed month smile. "I'm Shinya Hiragi of the Japanese Imperial Demon Army."

Shinya rests his hip on the wooden stroll, he drops the papers on the counter top beside him. He smooths the cuffs of his uniform as if smoothing out wrinkles. All business.

 _"I wonder if he's even ever been in an actual fight_." Yuu thinks absent-mindedly. He kind of looks like an pencil pusher. Yuu runs his eyes over Shinya and his firm shoulders… An attractive pencil pusher.

 _"Yuu."_ Mika chills. And Yuu can see the scolding look now.

 _"Yeah, I got it, pay attention,"_ Yuu grumbles back, rolling his eyes. _Honestly._

"I'm here to talk to you on behalf of my superiors and as a representative of the Demon Moon Company, a unit in our rank made; for research." He rests his hands in his lap as he explains, "the Japanese Imperial Demon Army are here to protect you and keep you safe." The officer assures and Yuu rolls his eyes, again. This was so boring. "And in order to that, every two years we send out a test to every school in the country."

The kids groan and Shinya smiles. "Don't worry, it's not hard. A simple questionnaire."

Shinya glances up at the black rimmed analog clock that hangs form the classroom wall above the whiteboard, then down at his wrist watch. "Well look at that. It's time to start."

The papers are passed back and Yuu blinks as he reads the title of the page. Then he blinks again to make sure he's not just seeing things.

 **How Well Do You Know Your Best Friend?** Was written in bold at the top of the page. A place to put your name and the date in the right top corner and ten questions bellow.

"Don't start yet." The soldier says, halting several students that already had their pencils in hand. "They're somethings I need to tell you before we begin."

"Firstly, there will be no verbal talking, none at all. Don't even try, because I'll know." He threatens, looking around the room and making eye contact with as many kids as possible. Yuu wasn't surprised, teachers did this all the time. He supposed it was something like a guilt tactic, not that it ever worked with him. "Secondly, we realize not all of you have a best friend, if not, chose your closest friend or family member. Lastly, all these need to be handed in before the end of class in five minutes and everything must be filled in."

"Good luck," Shinya wishes, before commanding with a firm voice, "Begin."

And so they did, the classroom was as quiet as air itself, there was the sound of pencils scribbling and the kids breathing but other than that not much else. A few awkward coughs did break the barrier of silence but only for a select few embarrassing moments.

Yuu looks down at his paper, pencil in hand and reads, all the questions are bolded.

 **#1: Their birthday:**

 **#2: Favourite Colour:**

 **#3: Their Gender:**

 **#4: Their full name:**

 **#5: Their favourite food:**

 **#6: Their favourite place:**

 **#7: Their favourite person:**

 **#8: Their favourite time of day:**

 **#9: Favourite Cartoon:**

All the above made sense and Yuu could do them all up to number five without mentally asking Mika the answers. Even then he could probably guess and get the answers right, except on number ten.

 _"Mika,"_ Yuu asks.

 _"Yeah, Yuu?"_ Mika answers back.

 _"Which species do you like most in the movie Twilight?"_

After scribbling down what Mika had told him, ( _"team Jacob, vampires suck_. _"_ ), He turns over the page and writes down his own answers.

Mika answers up to number eight without his help.

 _. . ._

"Excuse me, but could you tell me if I passed the test we had on Monday?" Yoichi asked, his tone of voice very polite and timid. Lowering his once raised hand, he starts gathering up his binder and pencil case.

The teacher smiles back at Yoichi like she never does at Yuu, approving and gentle. "I was told that you would be contacted over the summer." She folds her arms, "I heard that surprisingly a lot of kids failed. Something about the answers not being…" She holds her hands up and makes quotation marks with her index and middle fingers, "Right enough."

Mika focuses his gaze up at the white ceiling, _'right enough'_... What did that mean?

. . .

The bell rings, a shrill sound that makes every student's ear ache. Yuu runs out of the classroom, having nothing to take with him, not even a lunch bag – today he used a deposable plastic bag. They were supposed to bring their binders and a pencil case but Yuu ignored what the teacher said. It was the last day of school. What's the worse they could do?

Close on his heel, Mika's backpack is slung over his right shoulder.

 _"Don't you dare yell wait."_ Yuu thinks to Mika, _"I'll just go faster."_

So Mika doesn't and they run the halls of their public school, disregarding the teachers screams to walk.

They don't stop running when they reach the end of school property, they don't stop when the reach the end of the street. Yuu's feet take him to the hills of Redstone Park. He rockets up the hill, the air smells fresh and Yuu swears he can taste freedom.

He hears Mika behind him, but neither say anything. Mika watches Yuu like he's the sun, the center of the universe.

Yuu spreads his arms and feels the wind slip through his fingertips. He takes a deep breath and then exhales dropping his hands to his side. Grinning, he squeezes his eyes shut and falls forward, rolling down the hill on his side.

"Yuu!" Mika yells down, the hill was rather tall. Mika amuses the idea of reaching a hand up and touching the sky.

Mika jogs down the hill, gravity helping quite a bit. When he gets to the bottom, Yuu's spread out on the ground.

"You're crazy," Mika says in an awed voice, dropping his backpack. He flops down right beside the other boy.

"That one looks like a bird," Yuu states pointing to a white fluffy cloud.

Looking at the Yuu's wide, content eyes, Mika couldn't help but feel this place, the wispy clouds and the blue, blue sky only equated to one thing, the same thing a certain forest and tree house happen to represent. The start of their forever, right down the road to their Hollywood ending. He brushes Yuu's bang and smiles.

 _"Yeah,"_ Yuu thinks back. _"I think those things mean that too."_

 _. . ._

June was blistering, the sun was merciless. Yuu lays on his back, his headphones shoved in his ears, Fall Out Boy blasting through his iPod was heavy in his short pocket.

He eyes the backdoor of his house and scowls at it, before looking away. There was no way Yuu was going back in there until sunset. He wasn't in the mood to listen to his parents' scream at each other.

It never was like that before. Yuu wondered what changed…

Sighing, Yuu closes his eyes and thinks of better things. A dazzling smile and bright blue eyes, ones that put the sky to shame. _Mika._ He breathes deeply in through his nose, the air wasn't as sweet today, something seemed bitter about.

Shaking his head, dismissing the depressing thoughts. Laying still, with his hands behind his head Yuu drifts off, relaxing. It was only one o'clock. He had lots of time to just do nothing.

 _"Yuu?"_ Mika called out to him.

 _"Yeah?"_ Yuu thought back, his eyebrows crinkling.

"Yuu!" His mother yells from the kitchen window, her cheeks flushed from too much screaming and there's a firm tone to her voice, obviously meaning no one had listened. His father wasn't listening. That seems to be how it was now a day. He can barely hear her over his music.

He rolls his eyes. "Coming!"

Pushing himself up, Yuu dragged himself inside, very slowly. "Yuu, there's a man to see you." His mother says leading him to their living room area. He's surprised to see Mika and his parents there, Yuu's father sits off to the side and in the centre of them all stands one man Yuu never thought he'd see again in his life.

"You're the soldier that came to our classroom." Yuu voiced aloud, staring pointedly at the smiling, cross-legged man. The attractive pencil pusher with dumb hair.

"What are you doing here…?" Yuu asks in confusion, he looks from Mika's parents' faces to his father, both were cold, although Mika's mother had looked to be in tears.

Mika wouldn't meet his eyes. _"Mika?"_

There were no reply and Yuu flinches.

"Yuu," Shinya said, "Please sit. I supposed we all have things to talk about, yeah?"

So Yuu takes a seat. And Shinya starts talking, and Yuu listens, even if he hates the look Shinya is wearing.

"Ten years ago, there was a chemical spill." He starts off, making eye contact with Yuu and keeping them there. He must be the only one who didn't know yet. "In result, all pregnant mothers were required to sign a legal document stating that if the chemicals had any effect on the baby, the government will automatically be granted custody of that child."

Yuu blinks and looks down at his stomach, frowning. It hurt and Yuu's legs start jumping, his heart racing. This wasn't going to end well.

Mika still hasn't looked at him or replied to him. He just keeps staring at the ground.

"The test was developed to find children with special gifts," Shinya explains, looking into Yuu's eyes. His breath catches and he knows now what the teacher meant about the high failure rate – because it wasn't a test you were supposed to pass.

"It seems you and Mika have those types of gifts." Shinya stood. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

Mika's father starts crying, and Mika's mother balls, holding her son in her arms. "Not my baby." She sobs, squeezing Mika to her chest and kissing his head multiple times. "Please don't take my son."

Yuu looks to his parents, and like his eyes were fire, he meets with his father's – gas, and there's an explosion.

"This is because he wasn't mine. That's why something's wrong with him."

"Shut your mouth!" His mother screeches back. "Can't you get through your thick head that he's yours?"

"No son of mine would be that much of a freak show…"

Mika's parents look at Yuu's parents first and then at Yuu, horrified. Yuu just huffs and rolls his eyes. _"A fuck up and failure."_ He thinks before the words left his father's lips like an echo to his. Yuu can feel Mika's eyes on his and refuses to meet them. Instead, he turns toward Shinya, and in a bored tone asks when they leave and what he should pack.

. . .

The car ride was awkward to say the least. The air was still and heavy with loss. And the one responsible was in the front seat. Mika sits on Yuu's lap even when there's two more open seats – despite being one with the law, Shinya lets them.

 _"No matter what I'm going to protect it."_ Mika declares and squeezes Yuu's hand. _"Our Hollywood ending."_

. . .

"Hello?" Mika's mother answers the phone, her voice monotone.

"Hi! This is Yoichi and I wondering if I could talk to Mika please?"

"I'm sorry." Mika's mother's voice cracked, "Mika's not in right now."

"Oh, well could you tell him I called?"

"Yoichi, Mika's never coming back." And without further prompting, she cried.

. . .

Shinya sighs strolls into Guren's office. "Have I told you how much I hate my job?" He leans against the wall, looking at Guren, watching as his pencil works. "It's like I have to act like I like kidnapping children."

Guren doesn't pay any mind to the man in his office, Shinya was a regular occurrence.

"So? What are you going to do with them?" He asks, his eyes sharp but his posture relaxed, "They seem pretty special. Especially when one considers their entering test scores."

Guren flicks his eyes up and stares unblinkingly at Shinya. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"Oh, that important?" Shinya teases, before turning on his heel and marching straight back to where he came from. "I suppose that I know nothing then?"

 _[Age: Eleven]_

The bell rings throughout the cell hallways and there's a collective number of groans that echo after it. Mika's voice wasn't one of them. Silently, he sits up on the single bed. It's low to the ground and not at all comfortable. The strobe lights that line the top of the hallways beam on and the side by side cells are flooded with artificial light.

He yawns, stretching. He gets up off the bed and shivers when his feet touch the cold cement floor. He slips on the old sneakers laying off to the side, no socks. Another bell rings and Mika makes his bed while he thinks, "Five minutes until roll call."

After he was satisfied with the sheets, Mika fluffs the mushy pillow.

The large bolted door at the end of their cell section creaks open, slamming into the wall beside. Mika can hear the heavy footsteps of military boots. He walks to the front of his cell and stands there, with his hands straight at his sides, head up. Just like they were supposed to do.

Mika holds his breath as the soldier comes by, he stops in front of Mika's cell. His eyes run over Mika and his bed and his cell, before picking up his feet and moving on to the next cell.

Mika exhales, his shoulders slumping. He knows what happens to the inmates that don't follow regulation and don't listen to the guards. Actually, he didn't. But Mika did know that after one warning they get taken away. Them and their partners, and that's enough threat in itself. Because if an A becomes useless so does the B, that's how they're partnered, like ones and twos - As and Bs.

Everyone in this cell block was a B. The digits '045' were carved in the top of his cell and engraved in the bracelet clipped on his wrist. The same almost skin tight bracelet that regulates when he's able to contact Yuu and when he's not. The bracelet blocks his thoughts when it's programmed to and allows communication when it's prompted to.

Mika can't remember the day he got here, what the weather was like, or how actual clothes felt in comparison to the cotton white shirts and pants stripped with black did, he couldn't remember his mother's voice, or his father face or what his house looked like. But he can remember, very clearly, the bit where Yuu was taken from him. He can also remember the entering test as well as he can remember how to spell his own name - very well.

He remembers how Yuu lashed out and the needle they stuck in him, how he just… stopped moving. How that was the scariest thing Mika ever had to go through. He really thought (until Guren explained to him how and what they do here), that he was never going to see Yuu again.

The officer had taken one look at the tear tracks on Mika's face and said, "The kid's fine, you can count on that because you're still here."

Mika doesn't reply and doesn't meet his eyes. He's so angry, livider than he's ever been in his life. Even now that anger's still there but dimmed, shoved in a bottle and pushed to the side. Because if he expresses it, chances are he'll get Yuu killed.

That something he won't do. Not even if they put Yuu and him in a room and order them to kill each other. He'd just kill himself so Yuu would live.

"You need two for your power to work," Guren explained, "You're both useless on your own." He turns his back towards Mika but looks back at the boy before marching out of the room. "So when we take you, then you can be scared for your life."

The white-haired officer also had said something along similar lines when they started their entering test.

Another bell rings, and the cell doors open, everyone exits in an orderly fashion. Lining up according to cell number. It was breakfast time. They walk into the cafeteria and there's scraps of garage laying on some of the tables and crumbs, As get to eat first.

It only takes being here a week to see where certain people sit and where certain people don't. Who groups together with whom, and the leaders of those groups.

"Gangs." Mika thinks. But not really, because they don't fight with each other, at least not often. Almost like they've come to an agreement somewhere along the way that the only group they need to fight against is the one keeping them in here, the DMC. So there is none, no physical violence anyway. Like all things, there's ways to hurt someone without hitting them. Stealing is very common and that's what a gang here is. A group that steals together and shares the goods together, extra food or water from the kitchen, extra blankets or drugs.

Mika's in none of them. He sits alone and stays in the background. Even now in the cafeteria, he sits as far away as he can, alone. He's probably the youngest there too. So someone should have noticed him, should've made him a target being as small as he is. But they didn't. Just ignored him like he wanted them too.

"They always keep an eye on the younger ones," The man in the cell beside him, Lacus his name. This is the only time this man has ever talked to him, the day after he got there. When the order of things was still strange and the routines still new. "So don't think any of us is going to take you in, it be too much fucking work and none of us in here want that."

And so Mika's the definition of a lone wolf until they have courtyard time. But that's not for a couple more hours.

Mika waits in line with his blue tray, sliding it from station to station. "A bagel, please." So he gets his bagel and a cup of fruit and makes his way to one of the open back tables.

After Mika finishes his breakfast the bell rings. Breakfast was over.

Walking back to his cell is the worse part of the day. Two guards stand beside the line of prisoners and one stands in front and another at the back. Over the intercom, the robotic voice calls numbered pairs. Usually, they call three, the most Mika's been present for is ten.

Their footsteps echo in the tall straight hallway and they still in front the door for their section.

"AB-036, AB-015, AB-040, AB-012."

Thankfully today Mika's number wasn't called.

 _[Age: Ten, Flashback]_

A teary-eyed Mika follows the officer - Guren, he had said the name was, solemnly. Unmasked and wearing military clothes like ones of a high ranking officer instead of the gas masks and dark clothing the guard all adorned, Mika was able to find a familiarity of semi-normal clothing Guren had on. However, it seemed that didn't matter. Now he can't trust anyone. Mika stares first at Yuu's upper body hanging over one of the Guard's shoulders. Yuu was at this man's mercy, out cold and unresponsive.

He moves his gaze to the back of Guren dark head and glares. Rage bubbles in his stomach. Hadn't he promise? Promised Yuu wouldn't get hurt?

"Well," a ten-year-old Mika decides. "He'll just have to save Yuu."

 _[Flashback Discontinued]_

The courtyard was a large open room, with plank-like windows stretching across the high ceilings with large potted plants scattered around the room. Plush love seats, couches, tables and chairs arranged around the room in a restaurant style. Two glass sliding doors open to a large green grassed yard bordered by electric fencing.

Two mental doors stand opposite from each other. From one Mika enters, he sets his shoes on the rack and pushes his feet into the soft carpet. He wiggles his toes enjoying the warmth compared to the cold cement floor of his cell.

They line up on their side of the wall. A guard closes the door while another watches his back, breathing deeply into the gas mask. There's the sound of the automated lock and the light on the keypad next to the door turns from red to green.

The door opposite from theirs blinks from green to red and opens, there's a guard in the front and even if Mika can't see him, he knows there's one in the back. The guard enters the room first and twists to the side, standing parallel with the wall.

Without order, the As enter the courtroom. They head straight to their match by letter, mind and by the number carved into the identical bracelets.

Mika's throat feels like it closing up when he sees person after person, prisoner after prisoner, not-Yuu and not-Yuu rush into the room. His heart thumbs and a panic burns throughout his body.

He searches the faces of every A that walks through that door and none has glimmering green eyes or black hair that's styled in a ridiculous way. None is as short as Yuu and none as important.

The last prisoner walks in and Mika feels like he's going to hurl. There's no one behind the back guard.

Yuu's not there.

The words are malicious. Mika doesn't think he can breathe, he can't – He thinks of Yuu's body laid there, the needle - he may just start hyperventilating.

 _"When they tell me he's dead, they're just going to tell me to get over it_." Mika thinks and laughs quietly to himself because after a year of being here and crying every night for two months after he arrived, Mika doesn't think he has any more tears, so he laughs. "As if Yuu isn't the most important thing to me."

However, the door doesn't close and the two guards stand their ground. There's the sound of scraping footsteps.

Mika holds his breath. Yuu comes into view, limping with a nasty black and blue bruise on his face. Hanging off an unexpected third guard

Mika wants to run to him and hug him and just make sure he's there. Then he wants to yell at him for being stupid like he always is because Yuu can't just not be peaceful and accepting, he has to fight everything. Mika's coming to find that's his worst flaw and best trait.

He doesn't run to him, not until Yuu's in the courtroom, heaven knows what type of punishment they would receive then. He only waits until Yuu's stepped onto the carpet out of the hall and way of the door before sprinting over.

The guard drops Yuu like he's ridding himself of a burden and, Mika wants to hiss at him. Yuu tries to take a step forward and – god, how bad is that ankle? He trips but Mika's there. Catching him, like he always is.

Usually, Yuu would push him away and declare he wasn't a baby and could take care himself. Usually, Mika would smile and tease. Usually, Yuu would tackle Mika. Usually, Mika and Yuu would go home with new bruises and heavy limbs yet they always had lighter hearts.

Yuu doesn't push him away but clings. And Mika doesn't smile, he holds Yuu close. Yuu certainly doesn't wrestle with Mika and Mika defiantly doesn't hit back. Instead, he kisses Yuu's forehead.

Play fighting and horsing around had a whole different meaning after you've been hit for real once or twice. It wasn't fun after that.

Mika notices the stares of the others and scowls at them. Yuu's still buried in his chest. Mika taps Yuu's arm. The court room's the only room they're allowed to use mental communication freely.

 _"Let's go outside."_ Mika thinks, slinging an arm around Yuu's waist.

 _"Okay."_

 _[Age: Ten, Flash Back Continued]_

 _"Yuu!"_ Mika shakes his friend's shoulders, and there's fresh tear tracks on his pale cheeks. _"Get up!"_

Yuu grumbles something unintelligible and wrenches opens his eyes. _"...Mika?"_

Mika whispers praises to the gods and moves so he's by Yuu's head, he pushes Yuu up so he's propped against his knees.

 _"Yeah,"_ Mika reassures, _"It's me Yuu."_

 _[Flash Black Discontinued]_

Outside's warm, it's mid-summer. No one follows them out, so they're alone. They lay on the grass, side by side. Fleecy white clouds float above them. This time, they don't make shapes out of anything. Instead, Yuu's hand tip toes over to Mika's and slips inside. Mika intertwines their fingers.

Mika takes a deep inhale and exhales slowly and feels like the weight of the world fallen off his shoulders.

Mika turns his head to stare at Yuu, who's currently in a daze gazing at the endless sky.

 _"Yuu?"_ Mika asks, and he doesn't know what he wants to say that just he has to say something, to express the warm bubbly feeling in his stomach or he'll die.

 _"I'm busy."_ Nonetheless, Yuu turns his head to Mika's, giving him his full attention.

 _"You're really important to me."_

Yuu raises an eyebrow. Leaning in, he pecked Mika's cheek, his plump lips soft on Mika's skin. _"Yeah, I know."_

 _"But if you ever do that again, I'll kill you myself."_

Yuu huffs and rolls his eyes. _"Sure,"_ Yuu says sarcastically.

Mika's eyebrows pinch together and he sits up and glares at Yuu. _"I'm serious!"_

 _"So am I!"_ Yuu shouts, also sitting up straight and looking at Mika. Meeting his eyes.

 _"You're not going to lose me. I promise."_ Yuu makes an oath, holding up his pinky.

 _"Idiot."_ Mika comments, hooking their pinkies together. _"It's a pinky promise. Now you can't break it."_ He grins at Yuu _, "That means we'll just have to be together forever, I hope you know what you got yourself into."_

Yuu smiles for the first time in forever and Mika doesn't feel like he can breathe again but this time for a whole different reason.

 _"I think it's you who should be scared."_

During the midst of their conversation neither notice the girl standing at the fence line watching them. Her blonde hairs dull and her cheeks pale, her pigtails weren't as perky as they once were, drooping down.

"Mitsuba, what the hell are you doing out here?" Another girl calls, she walks until she's standing beside her, watching the same sight. "Hm."

"Stupid, aren't they?" Mitsuba states, tilting her head. Her chest hurts when she looks at them. She used to have that, she used to be happy.

"Very. But we all were like that too, once upon a time." The other girl muses. "'Til we realized A and B weren't just about sections."

Mitsuba giggles. "It was very different when we were Bs, huh?"

"As and Bs are the test subjects, Cs are the survivors."

"Or just the leftovers." Mitsuba comments.

Mitsuba goes very quiet and the other girl doesn't say anything, both lost in their thoughts. Mitsuba watches how gently Mika cups Yuu's bruised cheek and plant kisses all over it while Yuu flushes and tries to push the clingy boy off.

"Why do they get to be so happy?" Mitsuba says snidely, a scowl on her face. "What about me?"

The other girl doesn't reply, "But you still want to help them, right?"

Mitsuba doesn't say anything as if struggling to come up with the right answers. "No, I want them to hurt... that's what I want to say. However, that's just my hurt side talking. No one should suffer like we have. I shouldn't be angry at them. I'll save it for the DMC."

"But you want to save them?"

"I guess so, yes," Mitsuba answers uncertainly.

"Well, then." The other girl smirks running her eyes over the two boys in the other courtyard. "That's just what we'll do." She turns on heel, turning to go inside.

"There were many things for her to do. Yes, many things to prepare." The other girl plots, continuing inside.

"Wait, where are you going?" Mitsuba hisses to the girl. _"She was smirking…"_ Mitsuba thought horrified. _"Just what is Krul planning?"_

 _[Age Ten, Flashback Continued]_

"The little test we do in school is just to see who has the potential of what we've been calling duel telepathy. Where two people can communicate thoughts to each other but not to others, not even other duel telepathies." Shinya explains, crossing his arms behind his back. "There on your desk is the real test. You are to have a non-verbal conversation and write it down, like the dialogue in a book. Your topic is dogs. You may begin now."

The task seemed easy enough and being a little more than spooked, Mika and Yuu did as told. However, had they realised they could've done something other than comply with the DMC's wishes, had they thought about playing stupid maybe they could've made it out and back to their parents. However, they didn't, they didn't even question the bracelets they'd been asked to wear before the test. They hadn't questioned anything.

The next day they ended up separated, in strange new clothes and an icy cell to call a bedroom.

 _[Flashback Ended]_

Dinner when's the called numbers of the day come back from their tests. Mika's sitting by the door. They walk by, slowly and warily and a reminder of what type of place they're stuck in. Not that Mika needs a reminder, Yuu's injuries had been enough of one, not that he ever really forgets anyway.

When you consider your bedroom a bed with bars surrounding it, you can't forget that you're caged.

(They're trapped physically.)

And at the end of the day, when Mika does go back to that cage of a bedroom, all he can think about is how he can't talk to Yuu anymore, how they blocked the connection with the bracelets. How he'll never know whatever Yuu is thinking all the time ever again. Because of this, Mika feels an emptiness, a nothingness that was once filled.

(And broken mentally.)

Still, he'll think Yuu's name a billion times over, an anthem, and a bell, like a phone ringing.

But no one ever answers.

 _[Age: Eleven and a half]_

Rain patters against the locked glassed doors. It's brutal outside, Yuu doesn't think he can see anything but wet and grey. In result, the courtroom is cast in shadows and the heaters kicked in.

He's also grumpy, there's that too.

 _"But Yuu,"_ Mika murmurs throughout the silent room, an innocent smile on his face _. "You're always grumpy."_

 _"Oi! Shut up."_ Yuu scowls and moves down the loveseat by one space.

Mika gives him a look. Yuu crosses his arms and looks away, head raised high while he _mumbles "… I'm not grumpy_ all _the time."_

The other boy laughs at him. He moves towards Yuu, filling the space Yuu made.

 _"Hey!"_ Yuu huffs, quickly scattering away, creating yet more distance between them. _"I'm still mad at you."_

The other rolls his eyes, _"You're a very mature person, Yuu."_

Proving the point, Yuu pokes out his tongue. _"I happen to be very mature for eleven, thank you very much."_

For a moment, there was an unbreakable silence.

 _"… Are you sure you're still eleven?"_ Mika asks, a bit startled. Had they missed their own birthdays?

 _"Isn't that what you should be worried about?"_ Yuu fiddles with his hands, _"You are older."_

Yuu knew when his birthday had happened last time because their numbers had been called and he'd been told just before the tests started. On Yuu's birthday and Mika's. But really… who knows if that's going to happen again?

A lot of time has passed.

Yuu stares at Mika in uncomfortable silence. Something as simple as not knowing or celebrating your birthdate was something that represented what being here meant. Yuu grinds his teeth and crawls back over to Mika. He wraps his arms around the blonde's shoulders and leans his head on one.

 _"We're not going to be here forever. We've going to get out. Someday."_

Mika hums in agreement. _"Just… Be careful."_ He thinks about the bruises from a while ago. _"You never told me how you got those."_

Yuu snorts, _"I didn't, did I?"_

Mika remains silent. Expecting.

 _"Well… so there's this guy in a cell, like three ... I think four cells down from mine. And this guy, he's a Big Deal with a capital B and D. The Boss, the –"_

 _"I get it, Yuu."_

 _"He's in charge of the biggest gang in the Bs, right? So I'm sitting at my own table at breakfast and this Mr. Big Deal walks over and asks if I want to join his gang."_

Mika stills himself, he knows Yuu's smart. However, at the same, he's always had a little bit of recklessness that makes him unpredictable. _"And you said?"_

 _"No of course, and that made Mr. Big Deal mad so I got beat up."_ Yuu lightly squeezes Mika's shoulders. _"I don't have time for a stupid gang."_

A lie, of course, some days it seems Yuu's got nothing but time, however, it reassure Mika nonetheless.

. . .

It's after breakfast and Mika's standing in line. The guards in their usual places and everyone patiently waits, some in anxiety and others in indifference, for the reaping to begin. _("We should call it the reaping, just like that Hunger Games movie thing or whatever…"_ As Yuu put it. So the reaping it was dubbed.)

Logically, Mika knew their number would be called soon. It's like they hit shuffle, it always gets back to your number soon. His number hasn't been called yet and as the days go by the chances of them being call increases every day they aren't.

There's a buzz and the intercom is activated. "AB-016, AB-026, AB-031."

Mika doesn't know what to think. He thought for sure today they would be called. His shoulder's tense, something isn't right. The intercom seems to be off but the guards aren't moving from their posts.

And there's a horrible feeling, tingling from his throat all the way to his toes that whatever's going on had to do with him.


	3. Woebegone, I Can See Your Sorrow

**Note:** So this chapter is a little bit short and a lot worse for spelling/grammar since I haven't edited it yet. Whoops.

* * *

 _III_

 **Break Out**

 _Chapter Three: Woebegone, I Can See Your Sorrow_

 _{11.5–15}_

 _ **Warning: There's a little bit of excessive swearing in this chapter.**_

* * *

There's another buzz and a person speaks, the first time a person has ever spoken over the intercom. He says with a firm voice, "AB-045."

Mika's stomach drops and he tries to stop the shaking in his knee. The second buzz and the human voice were all too abnormal not to mean anything, it's been the same routine for over a year. Something big was going to happen. By the way the other prisoners actually turn to stare at him and the guards rush to get the prisoners back in their cells and the called ("the reaped") numbers to their proper place, Mika knew they knew it too.

When Mika gets to his testing room of the day, he's imminently uncomfortable. The boy walks into the room and the door shuts and locks behind him. The walls are white and there's a white table in the very middle of the room with a metal chair, one that reminded him of the chairs at school. What he wouldn't give to go back to school… Four walls surround him, three of which were half glass. Mika easily spots the two cameras in the corners of the full wall. On the other side of the glass was, what Mika could see, a microphone and some sort of control panel.

A woman he's never seen before, but wearing the DMC uniform stands beside the microphone, Guren stands right beside her. Hair slicked back and face blank.

He presses the black button of the microphone and talks. "Take a seat and we'll get started."

Mika listens and does so. The mental is tough on his behind and makes him more uncomfortable and cold. Guren nods his head slightly and the woman, her dark hair tied back in a mid-high bun and thin fingers, presses a button.

Three sections of the desk raise up, like a stage would, and unfold. Left on the table, was a blue circle on the right, a red square in the middle and a green triangle on the left. Mika blinks and waits for further instructions. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the flash of a screen and the flick and narrowing of Guren's eyes.

She presses on the button again and Guren speaks. "You may begin."

Mika tilts his head and doesn't really know what to do. He stares at the shapes, but doesn't move. He feels the gaze of Guren's eyes. Taking a deep breath, he soothes himself. Mika tries to figure out what to do. It doesn't look like a puzzle, or a trick, the shapes don't look like buttons, not attached to the tables just palm sized models.

Out of nowhere he feels the urge to touch the green triangle, like a whisper in the back of his mind. He hesitates at first but he doesn't have any other idea of what to do other than that. Reaching an arm out, he presses his palm on top of the triangle. The surface is smooth.

A green checkmark pops up on a pane of glass, the word "correct" animated at the bottom. Mika removes his hand, and the checkmark disappears. He waits for the urge to touch another one. He fiddles with his fingers and the urge is there. To touch the red square, he does so. With a ping the green checkmark pops back up on the pane of glass. Mika removes his hand and the screen disappears.

The next one takes longer to come to him. The first one came in seconds and the second one even faster, it's probably been around a full minute and Mika still haven't felt anything. He relaxes his shoulder and shuts his eyes and focuses. He waits.

Mika gets the general idea of the test, their testing his ability to pick up on transmitted thoughts. Whether those are Yuu's or not he doesn't know, the DMC could've came up with some freak machine. Nothing's impossible, people like Yuu and him are proof of that.

The thought comes to him in wispy whispers. He reaches over and touches the green triangle again. The animated screen pops up again and the checkmark is there. Under the word "correct" there's the word "complete."

At the same time the microphone is activated the screen exits. "Good." Guren's voice echoes throughout the room, there's the rumbling of gears and the moving of machinery, the sound of the automatic lock unlocking.

"The doors open, show yourself out."

Mika does as told, exiting through the heavy door. From there a guard exhorts him to a lunch room. He sits at one of the round tables. In the next minute, the same door opens and Yuu walks through it.

Guren watches the screen, a look of apathy on his face. Even if he was feeling anything but. Shigure tilts her head towards Guren but otherwise says nothing.

"I think it's time we prepare for the real experiment." He says, his voice even. His eyes still locked on the flashing 92% on the control panel. It's the highest score, Mika and Yuu always have the highest score. Well, compared to their bracket. There have been others with higher.

Guren frowns. He doesn't like to be reminded of AB-004 _or_ AB-078. He doesn't like to be reminded of his mistakes. He brushes the thoughts off, there's nothing he can do about it now.

Guren exits the testing room with Shigure quiet "Yes Sir," and old memories following him out.

 _[Age: Eleven and nine months]_

Their back from their courtroom time, the Cs all make ways to their cells quietly. The silence is broken by a shrill laugh, one that would be fitting for a witch, shrill and chilling to the bone.

Krul had taken one look at her cell and thrown her head back and laughed and despite the other inmates _'shhing'_ her, she can't control herself.

Mitsuba looks over to her right, she's confused at what Krul's peeing her pants about until she spots the extra bed.

"Looks like we're getting another one." She mutters and shakes her head. Mitsuba eyes Krul and can only think _"poor soul."_ If his loss doesn't drive him insane, Krul will.

 _[Age: Twelve]_

"AB-045," Yuu's number was called. Yuu sighs, it was going to be another miserable day indeed, one without freedom, another day without Mika. Days without Mika were the harshest ones.

Yuu waits with a guard at his side while the others are ushered into their cells. Mr. Big Deal turns around and sheers at him. Yuu sheers back. Yeah, they never really got over that.

One of the guards slaps on the back, hard. And Yuu smirks, maybe today wasn't going to be that bad.

After all the others are in a locked their cells, the guard pushes Yuu shoulder so he'll start walking. Yuu scowls at the guard but does so anyways. The guard echoes his footsteps as he walks, directing from behind. Talk about back seat driving.

After a bunch of twists and turns they finally make it to the door of the testing room. The guard unlocks it, the door opens and the guard pushes Yuu in. He stumbles in, tripping over his feet but manages not to fall. The door closes a split second later.

Yuu turns back and stares at the door, his eyes narrow. _That was fast._

He looks around and comes to the quick realization that there's nothing there. The room was empty save for a large, heavy blue curtain like one used to split the gym in two, back when he was in school. One side would be for the boys, soccer usually. The girls liked to play basketball on the other side.

The white walls are restricting and tall, threatening. He takes a step forward. And then another. Yuu approaches the curtain. He's curious and more scared than he'd ever admit. His trembling fingers grip the plastic material and without pause, he yanks the curtain back.

Yuu's eyes widen and his body freezes as he meets eyes to eye with icy blues.

"Mika?" The disbelief was strong. Tests were rarely ever done with the two of them in the same room.

Mika stares back, Yuu watches as the blonde reaches forward, an arm outstretched. Yuu goes to meet him. Their fingers never touch, Yuu doesn't feel Mika's soft, gentle fingers. All he feels is the hard, cold pane of glass that separates them.

Mika tries to smile at him, for whatever reason.

"Damn it." Yuu curses, and slams his fist on the glass. Yet another thing separating them. Everything does now adays.

There's a thunder of sound, a loud beep that demands their attention. Yuu can see Mika's spooked expression from his side of the transparent wall, he knows he's heard it too.

"Step back." The voice is monotone but human. Not something robotic, an actual human. The same one who called them back a few months ago.

All the sudden the day doesn't look at all promising as it did mere minutes ago.

The boys step back and the currents pulled back, unveiling the huge glass wall. A projection scene pops up, one that presented the almighty bastard himself.

Guren _fucking_ … Yuu didn't remember his last name. Guren… fucking… ? Guren…. fuck! _"Y'know what?"_ Yuu thought _, "_ Fuck _Guren."_ And silently nods to himself, pleased.

"Here's the deal." Guren said, leaning back in his chair. Hand folded on his lap and hair perfectly styled. "I'm supposed to say somethings and tell some other stuff… but! That's not what we're doing." He paused, tilting his head. "Basically you two aren't going to be seeing each other for a long," Guren adds for emphasis, "long time. Don't ask for how long, no one's going to tell you. Also, your whole mind talking deal, that's getting cut."

The words slice through Yuu. Not seeing Mika, he doesn't comprehend the words. They'll been kept away from each other before, two days at most. If that was a short time, a 'long, long time' could mean anywhere from a week to a month. Maybe more. But it couldn't be more than year, right? Right?!

But what had Yuu feeling the butterflies in his stomach and his palms sweat was the no mind talking. He didn't know why exactly he was panicking about that, however it probably had to do with the nights he'd wake up thinking he was losing his mind because it literally felt like there was a whole through his brain. Something was missing. Yuu knows that something's Mika, when their not able to mentally connect. But he doesn't know why that happens, just that it does and the feeling never really goes away. Only when they reconnect. Which is daily, Yuu doesn't want to think what's going to happen when they don't.

"Any questions?" Guren asks like he didn't just drop a bomb. "No? Go- "

"Why are you on a screen?" Yuu interrupts. Out of all the things he could've asked, that's what first spewed out of his mouth.

Guren makes a puzzled face before pointing to the Mexican flag behind him. "Why don't you use your head more often?" He remarks, opening his mouth to speak again, but doesn't get a chance to.

"Why don't you drop dead?" Yuu shoots back, and smiles passively.

The guards are told to take him away. Before they get to him – which is pretty damn fast – Yuu's proud to say he got the chance to flip _Fucking_ Guren off.

Yuu doesn't see Mika's horrified face. Nor does he realize until later that's the last time he'll be seeing Mika for a very long time.

 _. . .  
_

Mika sees Yuu, full of pride, lift up his middle finger and hold it haughtily. Yuu's hand stays in the sky until the guards force it down and drag him out of the room.

Mika watches morbidly, he doesn't want to watch Yuu get man-handled like that, yet this was the last time he was going to see Yuu in a long while. So the blonde boy watched with a broken heart as Yuu was forced from the room

The screen doesn't leave immediately like Mika thought it would. Instead, Mika watches as Guren sighs and shakes his head. His eyes find Mika's.

"I don't suppose you have anything to tell me?"

Maybe it was not knowing when his birthday is, being taken from his home, his bedroom basically being a cage, his freedom robbed, or Yuu blanket show of disrespect. But more than likely it was that Yuu was the only thing Mika had left, the only thing he could grip onto and hold for dear life. Now that was completely gone too.

"I think it would be your best interest to avoid dying because not even the deepest, darkest ring of Hell would accept you." Mika spat, the anger he bottled up all poured like water onto a grease fire. Making the flame lick the heavens and melt the ground it was set upon.

Mika turns on his heel and spoke to the tensing guards. "Lead the way."

The screen disappears silently and the guards walk Mika through a part he's never seen before. The hallways are all the same, grey, cold and cement.

After a sharp right turn they end up in front of a door – one that looks similarly like his own cell block one. But different, for one, there was a small rectangular window at the top. It also wasn't automatic, it was manual.

Mika watched with an odd fascination as the guard unlocked the door. It's the first time he's seen a door unlocked by hand and not a padlock in what he can guess two or more years. Come to think of it, they never did find out if they had their birthdays or not.

The door opens, creaking as it swings. With a gloved hand the guard pushes Mika in and follows directly behind. The cells are lined exactly as they were in his cell section, if not just a little smaller, the bars carry the same foredoom the others did, like it was generic.

Mika keeps walking, feeling the eyes of every cellmate on his skin, eyeing him up. Mika looks up and catches the engraved letters "C-052" on the top of a cell. His mind focuses on the 'C'.

" _Is that who these people are?"_ Mika asks himself, bringing his eyes back down to focus on the cement in front of him. _"Cs? A now too?"_

The sound of the guard's steps had stopped despite the fact Mika's taken another two whole step forward. He lifts his head and turns.

In front of him was the cell C-004. It wasn't anything like his other cell. Firstly, there we're two beds, and secondly and most importantly, there was a person in one of them.

The guard punched in the correct numerical combination in the keypad and the bars opened much like a rusted gate would, retracting to the side. The guard shoves Mika inside and hits another button on the pad and the bars started to close with squawking of old joints.

Mika winces at the sound.

The bars close fully with a heavy 'thud' and the guard turns and makes for a hasty leave.

After hearing the guard's final steps, he doesn't turn to strike up a conversation with his new cellmate, he doesn't try and draw any more attention to himself, he simply walks over to the unoccupied bed and lays down on the ratty covers. Completely ready to fall asleep and get up for dinner in about two hours.

Maybe sleep will make him forget the fact he doesn't have Yuu anymore, at least for a few hours.

But, of course fate isn't that kind.

"You-who." The girlish voice calls and Mika almost flinches but restrains himself. "What's your name, kid?"

Mika doesn't reply and breaths deeply, trying to fake sleep. Maybe she'll get the message and go away.

"You know it's rude to ignore people who are talking to you, especially new people. It doesn't leave a very good impression." She talks in mocking tone.

Looks like he wasn't getting away with this.

He sits up and the blanket pools in his lap. He flicks his head to the side. His eyes were cold while he surveyed her. She was shorter but older than he, her thick pink hair pulled up into a high pony with side bangs hanging down, interesting red eyes and an amused expression on her face.

"Huh," She says tilting her head to side ever so slightly, kicking her feet back and forth. "You're rather pretty thing, aren't you?"

To Mika mortification a thin blush spreads onto the apples of his cheeks and the girl laughs.

"Don't worry," She assures him, "You're not really my type." She hums and with a sly smile says, "You would make an excellent pet though."

"I'm nobody's pet." Mika blurts out, his cheeks flushed with anger. He didn't like how this was a one sided exchange.

"Suuuure." She drawls, rolling her eyes. She springs off her bed and stands. She leans forward so they're face to face, eye to eye. "I bet you already belong to someone."

"I'm not a thing." Mika says, he feels so… degraded it itches at his skin.

"Maybe not but you do have someone, right?" She teasingly asks, her pony tail bouncing as she paces the room.

"A cute girl perhaps?" She asks and watches as Mika's face stays blank and she smirks.

"A cute boy then?"

Mika immediately thinks of Yuu and his chest hurts all over. His lips drips into a frown.

"So it is a boy." She nods to herself, a hand at her chin.

Mika blushes again, because maybe he's had a crush on Yuu for the longest time. Since he can remember, Yuu's always been the most important. Always.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" Mika asks in something akin to exasperation.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" She mocks in a high voice.

Mika huffs and crosses his arms, she does the same. There's silence because Mika refuses to talk if that's how she's going to be.

"Isn't that the first rule of this place?" She speaks and this time it isn't mocking and Mika's so surprised he's actually confused.

"What?"

"Everyone wants something. But were not allowed to have it." She answers. "Freedom, alcohol, drugs, fucking… anything. Even a Buzz lightyear toy or some shit like that."

"I just want Yuu back." Mika says, grieving in his voice.

The girl laughs, but it's not a happy one, it's full of irony and helplessness and looks at him with a regretful gaze, "You're already luckier than any of us here. There's a reason there's no 'Ds'."

The fact stills Mika, his eyes widen a fraction. He hadn't known that.

"Then again," She continues, laying back on her bed, hands settled behind her head. "Who knows when you're going to see him again? So for the most part we're in the same boat."

She pauses for a beat. "I'll tell you something I want. I want to sit on my behind, eating a big assed blueberry pie, watching reruns of _Bugs Bunny_ cartoons. Reliving parts of my life I missed out on while I was in here."

She sighs and turns facing the wall, her back to Mika.

Mika watches her back, thinking about how it wasn't just Yuu and him effected by all this. Everyone in here was. Everyone was probably relatively feeling the same thing, scared and caged. The bubble that surrounded Mika exploded. Everyone was suffering and everyone was scared and Mika could do nothing about it.

Well, there was one thing he could do. He could be polite.

"I'm Mika. I'm twelve… I think. And I've been in here for about two years."

She doesn't reply for a few minutes and Mika doesn't think she will, until she does.

"I'm Krul. I'm fifteen and I've been in here for seven years. Four without my brother."

Mika doesn't ask what happened and Krul doesn't continue. And that was okay.

 _. . .  
_

"Ah," A voice says in a dismissive fashion. Instinctively Mika turns his head and all he can think is blonde and pigtails (which is a little hypocritical of him because really he shouldn't be talking).

"Who's this?" Her blue eyes scan over Mika in a critical method. The look did nothing to settle Mika's nerves. Don't get the wrong idea, Mika wasn't nervous – he wasn't! Just a little out of his element and had no idea how things worked here. Usually ending up making the wrong people enemies goes hand in hand with knowing nothing.

"This," Krul pokes at Mika's shoulder, her index finger pressing into his sleeve and creating temporary wrinkles. "is Newbie."

The blonde rolls her eyes and drops her tray across from the twelve-year-old. Two pieces of whole wheat bread with blueberry jam spread over each occupy the basic white paper plate on the tray. There's a distinctive lack of plastic cutlery but an extra napkin layers on top of the first one.

"I'm Mitsuba." She picks up one piece of brown bread and takes a reasonable sized bite out of it. The bread breaks with a crunch and indenting of white teeth. A few crumbs are left on her cheeks and she absent mindedly reaches up with a hand and wipes them away.

The mood swing was a little weird and confusing however, as Mika decided the previous night politeness would be the route he'd be taking.

"I'm Mika," he says simply.

"No," Krul grabs his cheeks in one hand and turns his head to face hers, a finger pointed in his face. "You're Newbie." She scolds. Krul releases her grip, shaking her head and muttering about 'bad kids who don't listen' and 'rebel teenagers.'

Mitsuba swallows and chortles at Mika baffled expression.

"Is Mika short for something?" She asks before biting into another part of the toast.

Mika shakes his own head as if clearing his own thoughts. "Uh," he finally starts after a few moments, deciding if he should tell or not. "… Mikaela."

"Oooo," Krul's head shoots up in interest, pausing from stabbing her helpless scramble eggs with her fork. "That's really pretty."

Mika holds her in a staring contest. Mitsuba goes on munching happily on her jammed bread. Krul narrows her graze and Mika widens his. His eyes start to water and Krul smirks.

"Oh please," Mitsuba says grumbly. She shoves her hands between their heads and claps.

"Hey!" They both yell at her, Mitsuba only rolls her eyes.

"I'm not going to call you Mika or Mikaela, blondie." Krul points out, "just cause 'tuba over their ruin our staring contest, doesn't mean you win by forfeit."

"So that's what we were competing for?" Mika says under his breath, and if either girls heard they ignored it.

Mitsuba narrows her eyes, "Bitch. I'm not fat."

Krul flutters her lashes innocently, "I didn't say you were, darling."

"You called me 'tuba'."

"Because that's your name Mi- _tsuba._ " Krul pronounces her name in two syllables, a finger pointed up in the air in a matter-of-factual way slurring the 's' and 't' in a way that makes it sound as if the 's' isn't there.

Mitsuba growls like an irritated cat. "You're so infuriating!"

"It's part of my charm." Krul assures, nodding her head.

 _[Age: Fourteen]_

Krul lends her head on Mika's shoulder. Her eyelids droop and her shoulder's sagging. Mika simply shifts his head and twirls the weightless plastic fork in his hand. He stabs the piece of egg on his plate with it, cutting it with the fork's edge and shoving the gooey egg into his awaiting mouth.

A tray thumps on the table and the chair across Mika screeches against the tile as it was pulled back. Its creaks as the new comer pulps down.

Krul snorts, "You should be kinder to the chair." She shakes her head, sitting straight up and stretching her arms across the table. "You don't want to accidentally break something, Mitsuba."

"Hurdy, hur, hur." Mitsuba mocks, pushing herself closer to the table. "I don't think you should be talking." She picks up her own fork and points it at Krul. " _I_ didn't break the shower head yesterday."

Krul shrugs her shoulders. "True. But I think the situation there is completely different."

"How?" Mitsuba demands, a scowl adjusting her features.

"Because," Krul starts and her voice drops. "Somethings feel good rough."

Mitsuba flushes and suddenly seems very interested in the fruit cup on her breakfast tray. Krul watches the girl's actions with amusement. A sly smirk on her lips.

"Or," Mitsuba says pointedly, "the showerhead falls and hits someone's head and that _definitely_ doesn't feel good." She mutters.

Krul face goes blank. She lets out a giggle and Mitsuba all but murders Krul with her eyes.

"You didn't feel like pigtails today?" Mika blurts bluntly, seeing his chance and taking it. He didn't want to talk about what his goddamn friends did in the goddamn shower because there were some goddamn things he didn't need to know about… Mika wasn't blushing, he swears.

Her eyes snap up. Mitsuba pushes a side bang behind her ear. She tilts her head back and forth and the ponytail follows, swishing side to side.

Mika picks up the last of his egg and shovels it in. Dropping his fork on the plate and pushing it forward.

"Yeah… I did." She says, shrugging her shoulders. "I just felt like it."

Mika nod and finishes chewing. "It looks good."

She gins at him, "Thanks."

"You do look cute with your hair like that," Krul says, a hand at her chin. "Want me to French braid it instead?"

Mitsuba looks at Krul bewildered, "You know how to French braid?"

"I know how to do a lot of things." Krul replies flipping her hair.

"Okay." It wasn't clear if that was a sarcastic reply or an invitation. Krul took it as both.

Krul's hands play around with Mitsuba's hair, stretching some and running her fingers through.  
She tugs the pony tail onto her wrists. Take a piece of hair form the top of Mitsuba's head, she starts braiding.

"Whatcha think about blondie?" Krul asks and tugs shapely at a strand of Mitsuba's hair.

"Ouch! Well currently your devil-"

"Not you." Krul says abruptly, yanking on another piece in spite. Mitsuba hissed at the action. "Other blondie."

Krul's eyes flash, "We can't have two blondies, that's not gonna work. I can't believe I didn't think of this before."

Mitsuba rolls her eyes, "Yeah, it's not like if you just called us by our names this problem would be avoided."

Krul ignores her and stares at Mika hard, and the seconds later snaps her fingers. "I got it!"

"Mika, I'm calling you pancake from now on."

Mika just nods, "Whatever."

"Soo…?" Krul eggs on.

"Soo…?" Mika echoes.

"What are you thinking about?"

Mika flicks his eyes over, his head rests in his hand. "The same thing as always."

"As always." Krul teases "I supposed I'm just supposed to know what that is."

"Yuu." Mika shrugs and says off handily like it's no big deal. Because, it's really not. He's always thinking of Yuu. Maybe not every minutes of every day, but most of the time.

Krul opens her mouth to say something but Mitsuba beats her to talking.

"Are you ever going to get over him?" Mitsuba says, "It's been a year."

Mika's eyebrows furrowed, his eyes harden and he gives her a dirty look. That had been the wrong thing to say. "No," he shakes his head. "I don't think I ever will."

He picks up his tray and leaves.

They both watch as he walks away. "Well then." Krul concludes. "This has been a beautiful morning."

Mitsuba catches Krul's thin wrist as they go back to braiding. "He's such as wuss Krul."

"Hey," Krul barks, "I don't think-"

"But gods, I'm such a freakin' bitch, Krul." She turns and there's tears in her eyes.

"Oh," Krul mumbles under her breathe. This is what that was all about. The words pull on her heart strings.

"I know babe." Krul opens her arms and Mitsuba nuzzles right in. They hold each other tight.

"I just, when he talks about that Yuu kid like he's never going to see him again." She sniffles, "It slices me in half because he doesn't even know half of it. He doesn't know what it's like to lose someone completely." Tears slide down Mitsuba's checks and she buries her head in the crock of Krul's shoulder. "Mika still has him."

"Shinoa," She sobs. "Shinoa…" She can't get the words out. Krul rubs Mitsuba's back, waiting for Mitsuba to get the words out.

Mitsuba takes several deep breathes before talking.

When she does finally, her voice trembles, "Shinoa's gone."

Tears prick Krul's eyes but she refuses to let them fall. Her chin rests on Mitsuba's shoulders. She doesn't say she sorry or that things were going to get better. She says something completely different.

"We're going to get out." Krul mumbles into Mitsuba's ear.

"Promise?" She sobs.

"Promise." Krul swears, kissing the crown of Mitsuba's head.

 _. . .  
_

The nights are cold. Colder than anything Mika has ever felt. He cowards under the blankets of his bed, like the coward he is. In the end without Yuu, Mika has nothing but burning anger. Without Yuu, all he has are conflicting emotions in their highest raging and raw forms. Without Yuu, he has emotions he can't control and a world he can't understand.

Because really, what was Mika's world without Yuu?

Without their start of forever and Hollywood ending?

A grey one, that puts sand beneath Mika's feet and all he can do is struggle and slip and sink into a void of something dark he doesn't understand.

 _[Age: Fifteen]_

At this point, it's like Mika's running on fumes. There's nothing he's really living for. Sometimes he can't even feel the warmth in his veins. Other days he wonders if he has any warmth at all.

He's taller than Mitsuba by a few inches and almost dwarfs Krul. But neither fact is apparent in the make shift double bed they made by pushing Krul's bed over to Mika's. It's just big enough for them all to squeeze into.

He's comfortable physically, Mitsuba snoozes lightly, cuddled up to his shoulder. Krul on the other side, lying flat on her back, their pressed shoulder to shoulder. Neither touch feels like Yuu, neither touch evokes the same affection. He doesn't like them like he likes Yuu.

He knows that. They know that. This is comfort, this is friendship.

His eyelids droop, and he thinks he may get to sleep tonight without thinking of the gapping hole he feels, where Yuu is supposed to be. Where he's not.

His eyes are closed but he's not asleep, not yet.

"Pancake?"

"Hum?" Mika replies.

"Can I ask you something? And you have to promise on your mother's life you won't get upset."

Mika sighs and raises his left hand. "I promise on my mother's grave I won't get upset over the content of the question Krul's about to ask."

"How the hell do you know Yuu's alive?" Krul honestly asks. "If I was you I would've given up a long time ago."

Mika huffs and then sighs again. He opens his eyes, and turns his head looking eye to eye with Krul.

"I never told you how I got in here, did I? Why I still have a… partner when the rest of you guys don't."

Krul nods and waits.

"Basically it's a separation experiment. For what reason I don't know, but I do know you could spend more than a couple of hours speculating about it. I try not to think about why I'm in here as much as I try to think about when I'm going to see Yuu again. Because the experiment has to be over soon right? It has to be… and after that then there's no longer any reason to keep us away from each other."

"Or he's dead." Krul bluntly suggested.

"Could you not say that?" Mika snapped back. He glares at her, eyebrows crinkled.

"It's true." Krul points out. "We're Cs for a reason."

Mika lets out a breathless laugh. "You do realize Yuu's the only thing I have to hold onto?"

Krul scoffs, "I don't have any time for your pity party. Really, I've lost-"

"No!" Mika voice raises enough to startle Krul and wake Mitsuba but not to alert to anyone of the conflict. "We're not playing that game. We're not going to try and one up each other, everything's shitty for everyone here. You don't get to pretend your problems are any worse than mine are! I'm certainly not going to do that to you. We're not doing that."

"…Mika? Krul?" Mitsuba's drowsy voice gently echoes throughout the cell. "Are things okay?"

"…Yeah, blondie." Krul answers, swallowing. "Go back to sleep."

Mika turns, his back to Krul, Mitsuba cuddles into his side. There's a pause and a ruffling of covers. Krul presses herself up by Mika's back and rests her forehead on his upper back. "Sorry." She says.

"Me too." Is what Mika says in reply. Really he was, for too may things he did and many more he hasn't done.

 _. . .  
_

"What do you hear?" The automated voice asks.

"The sound of my foot going up your ass." Yuu sasses back. His back uncomfortably slumped in the hard plastic white chair.

"Incorrect answer." The computerized voice responds.

"Incorrect answer." Yuu mocks. He blows and his bangs fly up. He needs to cut his hair.

"Incorrect answer." The computerized voice replies and the repeats the question. "What do you hear?"

"Nothing." Yuu admits. "I hear nothing."

" _I can't hear Mika."_

" _Mika, Mika, Mika, Mika, Mika, Mika, Mika, Mika where are you?"_

" _Why can't I hear you?"_

He's falling and he doesn't know how to save himself. He doesn't have anything. There's nothing but the twisting thoughts in his head and the monotone of the computer.

 _. . .  
_

Mika was thrown harshly into his cell. Red alerts flared and all doors locked automatically. The institution was on lock down. A group of Cs had been getting rowdy and in result, everyone was shoved back into a cell if they weren't already there.

The guards pace in the hallway. There's more here than Mika's ever seen in one place before. Twelve at least and sixteen at most. He's not sure exactly what the number of guards were and he sure wasn't going to move around to see. Mika got the point when his back slammed onto the floor of the cell. Shut up and don't move.

Krul sits beside him. The chaos around them seems far away, the red lights, the alarm, the guards, the yelling and the screaming, all of it distant. Especially distance when Krul turns and stares. Mika doesn't say anything, doesn't turn to stare back. Just lets the girl do as she pleases.

"Mika." Krul looks at Mika. She can see the black bags underneath his eyes from the sleepless nights and the sickly appearance of a boy who's lost it all.

She stealthy and slowly moves so there sitting side by side. Not that anyone paying that close attention to them, there in a cell so they're accounted for.

He feels like he's finally breaking, slipping, to be blunt losing his mind. Every day that goes by without Yuu is one he doesn't want to live.

"Let's break out." She whispers and for a second Mika thinks he didn't hear her right that is until she meets her serious expression.

Mika immediately thinks of Yuu. "Not without Yuu."

Krul laughs under her breath, "Of course not, but this type of thing is delicate. We don't know when you're going to be returned to your princess. We might of well get started now."

"You can actually get us out?" Mika whispers.

"With time." Krul smirks.

Mika nods and they don't talk about it after that.


End file.
